CORTLAND, Ohio (WKBN) – When the Trumbull County Fair rolls around in less than two months, fair-goers will see some new additions.

While there’s a lot of work to do before gates open in July — officials say the walls are starting to go up this week — the main projects are the Historic Village and the Bazetta Christian Church.

The Bazetta church is more than 150 years old — and the inside needs some reworking.

“Right now it’s a mess,” Michele Smith of the Trumbull County Fair Board said.

Fixing the ceiling, re-plastering and painting are just some of the jobs that need to be done in the church before the fair runs July 9-16.

“It [has] always been part of the history of Trumbull County,” Smith said.

There are more than 32 historical organizations in Trumbull County.

Monday, some of the organizations met to see how they can help with the Historical Village, which also includes a gas station and the Orangeville Jail.

“All three of these were from Marshall Miller,” said jail project leader Jeff Ford, talking about historic jail note cards. “This was from 1896, this is I believe from 1904 or 1902 when he arrested three different people — and they were actually held in the jail.”

Ford is taking on the jail project because he likes history. And preserving history is something that’s important for a lot of people involved with the fair.

“I think you don’t know where you can go if you don’t know where you’ve been,” said Cindie Mines, a local history-gathering facilitator.

If you’re interested in helping out with the Historical Village, you can call the Trumbull County Fair office at 330-637-6010.

Additionally, a new fair restroom is being built thanks to grant money. That grant money should also make things a little brighter, too.

“We got a grant for all new light bulbs in our barns and our other buildings,” Smith said. “Which includes the grandstand and all of our other buildings that we have light bulbs in.”

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